The Ministry of Human Rights condemns in the strongest terms the dangerous military escalation carried out by the terrorist Houthi militias today, Thursday, in several areas of western Taiz Governorate, accompanied by artillery and missile shelling and drone attacks targeting residential areas, camps for displaced persons, and civilian and educational facilities, in a blatant violation of the rules of international humanitarian law and international human rights law.
The Ministry condemns the killing of citizen Fouad Muqbil Hassan by a sniper affiliated with the Houthi militias in front of his home in the Shubayyah area of Maqbanah District, in yet another crime added to the record of grave violations committed by the militias against civilians, with no regard for their lives or safety.
The Ministry also condemns the indiscriminate shelling that struck villages and residential areas in the districts of Maqbanah, Jabal Habashi, Al-Kadhah, and Al-Dhabab, as well as the missile shelling that struck coastal districts in Taiz and Al-Hudaydah Governorates, resulting in fear and panic among civilians. It further condemns the targeting of “Karim School” in Al-Wazi’iyah District with a missile while classes were in session, causing damage to the school, in an extremely serious assault on children’s right to education and their safety.
The Ministry particularly denounces the targeting of gatherings of displaced persons in the Al-Rahbah, Al-Rajihi, and Wadi Al-Hanayah camps with artillery shelling and machine-gun fire, as well as the fall of mortar shells near one of the camps, which forced dozens of displaced families to flee once again from their places of refuge.
The Ministry considers that targeting civilians, camps for displaced persons, and educational facilities, alongside the indiscriminate use of firepower in populated areas, constitutes a grave violation of international humanitarian law and may, in some instances, amount to war crimes. It also confirms the continued pursuit by the Houthi militias of a systematic policy that places the lives, property, and fundamental rights of civilians at risk of attack.
The Ministry of Human Rights holds the terrorist Houthi militias fully responsible for these attacks and for the resulting deaths, destruction, displacement, and forced uprooting, as well as for exposing civilians, including women, children, and displaced persons, to direct and ongoing danger.
The Ministry calls on the international community, the United Nations, and international bodies and organizations concerned with human rights and international humanitarian law to clearly condemn these attacks and not treat them as isolated incidents, but rather as a systematic policy that the group has pursued since the beginning of its war against the State, and to work to ensure the protection of civilians, hold perpetrators of violations accountable, and end impunity.
The Ministry also affirms that the continuation of these attacks against civilians in Taiz and other Yemeni governorates requires a more serious and firm international stance that holds the Houthi militias to their legal responsibilities and prevents the continued targeting of civilian populations and the transformation of their areas and displacement camps into arenas of shelling and intimidation.
The Ministry of Human Rights reiterates the Yemeni Government’s firm position on protecting civilians and safeguarding their rights. The Ministry will also continue its efforts to monitor and document violations and work through the available national and legal frameworks to ensure redress for victims and accountability for those involved in these crimes.
